Quisenberry turns down Div. I tennis scholarship for chance to study at MIT

The Gregory-Portland senior, Quisenberry has never made less than an A in high school and carries a 104 grade-point average. Quisenberry also plans on becoming a brain surgeon and has been accepted into MIT, where she will play on the Division III women’s tennis team next fall.

“I never wanted to be anything else — I always wanted to be a doctor,” said the 17-year-old Quisenberry, who signed a letter of intent last week to attend the university. “I’m so excited that I’m going to MIT.”

Tennis has been the other passion for Quisenberry, who started playing it with a plastic racquet when she was 3-years-old.

She made immediate progress, according to her family.

“By age five she was as good as most of the people out there hitting (tennis balls),” said Larry Quisenberry, Lauren’s father.

Quisenberry, who was born in Kentucky, was ranked in the Top 15 as a tennis player while living in Indiana and Texas.

Yet, high school tennis has been a challenge for her because of the six surgeries that she’s had in the 5 ½ years that she’s lived in the Coastal Bend. That’s surgery to both of her arms, wrists and knees.

Larry Quisenberry said surgeons had to shorten bones in both of Lauren’s arms because they were growing at a rate that was tearing tendons in her wrists. She also had a titanium plate and seven screws inserted into each arm, Larry said.

The right-handed Lauren even had to play tennis with her left hand as a sophomore while recovery from one of those surgeries.

At one point, doctors told Quisenberry that she shouldn’t even think about picking up a racquet until 10 months after surgery. Six months and one day later, Quisenberry said they were surprised to find the bone had completely healed and she was able to start her comeback early.

“I was told there was a chance that I would never play tennis again — I guess it was just mind over matter,” said Quisenberry, who has scars on both of her arms between her elbows and wrists as proof of what her mind can overcome.

Quisenberry also credits her strong Christian faith for her quick recovery.

“God never gives us more than we can handle and I can handle it,” said Quisenberry.

When Quisenberry has been able to play tennis, she’s been quite effective. She was chosen District 30-4A Female Most Valuable Player in the fall season of both her junior and senior years.

Quisenberry said she’s been looking forward to playing spring tennis this season because, “I’ve never played high school tennis with both arms,” Quisenberry said. “I’ve always had an arm wrapped, in a cast or something.”

Quisenberry’s mother, Delia, said the family considers Lauren’s surgeries, “a blessing” in disguise.

“If she wouldn’t of had all of those (injury) problems, she would have gone to a Division I school,” Delia said of Lauren, who also was offered a scholarship to play tennis for DI Louisville but turned it down. “It helped her to see that there’s more to life than tennis, where at one point — she thought that’s all there was. So, it has all worked out for the best.”